This is a dumb gotcha to be directed my way -- I've been consistent in my read on "cancel culture", and I've previously linked to this Alan Cole thread as a pretty good match for my opinion. Lefties like you and many here are too busy reacting defensively and forcing it into the usual left-vs-right model to really engage with the phenomenon.
I'm torn -- on the one hand I absolutely agree with you, it's just part of the college period to flirt with some kooky ideas that dwindle away after time in the real world. It would be a shame to see a random signatory of one of these lists actually lose opportunities because of it. On the other hand, the real possibility that you might be held accountable for the things you say or sign on to is a necessary counterbalance to youthful excess. If this largely remains a threat rather than an actuality, it's probably a healthy learning opportunity; and having a small number of prominent outliers be impacted is a useful part of that, pour encourager les autres.
Looks delicious and easy to make -- I might even actually try this one and not just think about it.
BTW, I don't speak any Italian but my guess is "le" in this case is not an article but an indirect object pronoun - "(to) her". Something along the lines of "it's clear to her" maybe?
Exactly. Some of the reactions remind me of an old political cartoon -- if updated for the current moment, it would be a big canoe with a bunch of humanoid donkeys clustered on the left-hand side and a bunch of humanoid elephants on the right; and there's a big hole on the right-hand side of the canoe, the elephants are looking alarmed, and the donkeys are pointing and laughing and saying "you guys are so screwed!!".
Sounds like DM's true concern is about "fundamentalism" in general -- religious fundamentalism is basically the OG manifestation but it can apply in many areas. That's an opinion I might agree with, but it's referring to a general human trait and not specific to religion.
One could argue that religion is more apt to be associated with it, and/or that it's more damaging when associated with religious beliefs than in other areas, and/or that the benefits of religion are not adequate to balance out the ill effects of religious fundamentalism -- all of these would require some comparative evidence though.
I shouldn't try to comment here when I'm at work -- that was an over-reaction on my part. But my position is that a discussion of religion needs to cover much more than belief -- religion as practiced is at least as much about community as about believing in supernatural entities. I suspect half the people in my church wouldn't even say that they believe in an actually-existing God -- going to church is also about belonging to an intentional community, providing a positive environment for raising children, weekly encouragement to be a better person and to deal with life's challenges, etc. This is why arguments that don't go beyond "Flying Spaghetti Monster" irritate me.
“Magic isn’t a thing” is such a useless simplistic way to talk about the huge topic of religion that I have to assume you weren’t seriously engaging, or are just overgeneralizing from a little bit of experience.
One of the things I appreciate about this site is that there have generally been a number of people even on the left half who have belonged to or spent significant time in a church. There of course have been a few commenters & posters who treat “religion” as if it’s equivalent to Jerry Falwell, the Ayatollah, and the Crusades, but those comments get plenty of pushback even from other liberals. My own long experience in our mainstream protestant church in a blue state is that it’s too liberal for my taste (though I still attend religiously).
This sounds great but it's the motte. Why is the poster calling this "White" culture? Why bring race into it at all? These values are neither universal to nor exclusive to white people in America.
Also, there's an implicit criticism for anything Team Blue associates with "white people" yet some of of these cultural values seem like obvious positives and would be a sign of racism if their opposite was associated with POC. E.g. do non-whites in America not plan for the future or delay gratification?? Sounds pretty insulting to me.
I wonder if one issue is that he has limited energy, so while he might be fine to maintain a high level through an occasional public appearance, multiplying the number of appearances by two or three would mean less vigor in each, and more danger of “senior moments.”
It's interesting to think about an alternate history where Trump wasn't nominated -- the underlying polarization would still have been there to some extent, including the populist right vs the academic/journalist left and social media as amplifier, but was Trump (and the reaction to him) a necessary component?
You're right, that is simple. Unfortunately the world is not simple, and I don't like to be ruled by people like you who like to pretend that it is. There's an obvious assumption in your "simple" rule -- see if you can spot it!
People can make their own decisions regarding their own behavior, and everyone is free to figure out their own risk tolerance and do their own cost-benefit analysis. Of course there will always be people who loudly and strongly disagree with others' choices -- that happens with silly stuff like condiments and clothing, all the more so with health-related decisions.
But at the point that you're supporting or advocating for mandates, it's your obligation as a citizen in a democracy to seriously account for the fact that other people will have different conclusions and opinions, some of which you may not understand or may disagree with, and to to apply both a higher evidentiary standard and a higher level of empathy/humility. Just saying e.g. "I think wearing a mask is no big deal, so it should be fine to impose a mandate even if the evidence is not rock-solid, just in case" is IMO not being a very good citizen.
I'm not saying mask mandates were not justified in summer 2020 based on what we knew (though I'm not saying they were not not justified either), but i was disturbed by the thought process commonly expressed online that was dismissive about other people's subjective opinions on the experience of masking.
Top 10 Ways American Cars Would be Different if Ralph Nader Had Never Been Born
10. Dashboard hibachis
9. Seat belts made of piano wire
8. Windshield replaced with ant farm for kids
7. Strobe headlights make oncoming traffic look like old time movie
6. 50-foot antennas allow you to broadcast while driving
5. Optional front-seat hammocks
4. Wiper fluid reservoir routinely filled with thousand island dressing
3. New York City taxis would be exactly the same
2. The paper Buick
1. Speedometer replaced with electronic voice chanting "Punch it! Punch it!"
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Brief Aside On Cancel Culture”
That's just the sort of thing a chaos agent would say. You're not fooling anyone.
On “From CNN: Israel says it is ‘at war’ after Hamas surprise attack”
This is a dumb gotcha to be directed my way -- I've been consistent in my read on "cancel culture", and I've previously linked to this Alan Cole thread as a pretty good match for my opinion. Lefties like you and many here are too busy reacting defensively and forcing it into the usual left-vs-right model to really engage with the phenomenon.
"
I thought Gigi Hadid's statement was pretty good -- supporting the Palestinian cause & people but forthrightly condemning the attacks.
"
I'm torn -- on the one hand I absolutely agree with you, it's just part of the college period to flirt with some kooky ideas that dwindle away after time in the real world. It would be a shame to see a random signatory of one of these lists actually lose opportunities because of it. On the other hand, the real possibility that you might be held accountable for the things you say or sign on to is a necessary counterbalance to youthful excess. If this largely remains a threat rather than an actuality, it's probably a healthy learning opportunity; and having a small number of prominent outliers be impacted is a useful part of that, pour encourager les autres.
"
This or similar events might have been extra motivation.
On “Rigatoni Capricciosi”
Looks delicious and easy to make -- I might even actually try this one and not just think about it.
BTW, I don't speak any Italian but my guess is "le" in this case is not an article but an indirect object pronoun - "(to) her". Something along the lines of "it's clear to her" maybe?
On “Kevin McCarthy Ousted As Speaker of the House”
Exactly. Some of the reactions remind me of an old political cartoon -- if updated for the current moment, it would be a big canoe with a bunch of humanoid donkeys clustered on the left-hand side and a bunch of humanoid elephants on the right; and there's a big hole on the right-hand side of the canoe, the elephants are looking alarmed, and the donkeys are pointing and laughing and saying "you guys are so screwed!!".
On “From NBCNews: Student loan payments restart today, forcing borrowers to take on more debt and put off saving for retirement.”
We're screwed anyway, a few hundred billion hardly matters.
On “Open Mic for the week of 9/25/2023”
https://medium.com/@lee-steers.0u/neckties-and-white-supremacy-8ce71947c45b
"
I think you've totally missed the point of the various people responding to you here, probably not productive for me to continue.
"
Ummm.... what? Are you super-distracted and forgot the context of this subthread? Maybe hop back up a few comments and re-read...
"
I'm not a lawyer but i'm pretty sure they would confirm that a civil judgment is not a "conviction", and the evidentiary standard is different.
On “The Marriage Privilege”
Sounds like DM's true concern is about "fundamentalism" in general -- religious fundamentalism is basically the OG manifestation but it can apply in many areas. That's an opinion I might agree with, but it's referring to a general human trait and not specific to religion.
One could argue that religion is more apt to be associated with it, and/or that it's more damaging when associated with religious beliefs than in other areas, and/or that the benefits of religion are not adequate to balance out the ill effects of religious fundamentalism -- all of these would require some comparative evidence though.
"
I shouldn't try to comment here when I'm at work -- that was an over-reaction on my part. But my position is that a discussion of religion needs to cover much more than belief -- religion as practiced is at least as much about community as about believing in supernatural entities. I suspect half the people in my church wouldn't even say that they believe in an actually-existing God -- going to church is also about belonging to an intentional community, providing a positive environment for raising children, weekly encouragement to be a better person and to deal with life's challenges, etc. This is why arguments that don't go beyond "Flying Spaghetti Monster" irritate me.
"
“Magic isn’t a thing” is such a useless simplistic way to talk about the huge topic of religion that I have to assume you weren’t seriously engaging, or are just overgeneralizing from a little bit of experience.
"
One of the things I appreciate about this site is that there have generally been a number of people even on the left half who have belonged to or spent significant time in a church. There of course have been a few commenters & posters who treat “religion” as if it’s equivalent to Jerry Falwell, the Ayatollah, and the Crusades, but those comments get plenty of pushback even from other liberals. My own long experience in our mainstream protestant church in a blue state is that it’s too liberal for my taste (though I still attend religiously).
On “Open Mic for the week of 9/18/2023”
Whoa, Chip reaches back four decades in a bid to join Team BDSI! Welcome aboard!
"
Re your second paragraph, there's a classic video bit along those lines.
"
This sounds great but it's the motte. Why is the poster calling this "White" culture? Why bring race into it at all? These values are neither universal to nor exclusive to white people in America.
Also, there's an implicit criticism for anything Team Blue associates with "white people" yet some of of these cultural values seem like obvious positives and would be a sign of racism if their opposite was associated with POC. E.g. do non-whites in America not plan for the future or delay gratification?? Sounds pretty insulting to me.
On “Mini-Throughput: Masks, Redux”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tDjBvklkIQ
On “Let Joe Biden Be Joe Biden: Voter Reactions To President Biden’s Events”
I wonder if one issue is that he has limited energy, so while he might be fine to maintain a high level through an occasional public appearance, multiplying the number of appearances by two or three would mean less vigor in each, and more danger of “senior moments.”
On “Mini-Throughput: Masks, Redux”
It's interesting to think about an alternate history where Trump wasn't nominated -- the underlying polarization would still have been there to some extent, including the populist right vs the academic/journalist left and social media as amplifier, but was Trump (and the reaction to him) a necessary component?
"
You're right, that is simple. Unfortunately the world is not simple, and I don't like to be ruled by people like you who like to pretend that it is. There's an obvious assumption in your "simple" rule -- see if you can spot it!
"
People can make their own decisions regarding their own behavior, and everyone is free to figure out their own risk tolerance and do their own cost-benefit analysis. Of course there will always be people who loudly and strongly disagree with others' choices -- that happens with silly stuff like condiments and clothing, all the more so with health-related decisions.
But at the point that you're supporting or advocating for mandates, it's your obligation as a citizen in a democracy to seriously account for the fact that other people will have different conclusions and opinions, some of which you may not understand or may disagree with, and to to apply both a higher evidentiary standard and a higher level of empathy/humility. Just saying e.g. "I think wearing a mask is no big deal, so it should be fine to impose a mandate even if the evidence is not rock-solid, just in case" is IMO not being a very good citizen.
I'm not saying mask mandates were not justified in summer 2020 based on what we knew (though I'm not saying they were not not justified either), but i was disturbed by the thought process commonly expressed online that was dismissive about other people's subjective opinions on the experience of masking.
On “Chrome & Punishment”
Reminds me of an old Letterman top ten list:
Top 10 Ways American Cars Would be Different if Ralph Nader Had Never Been Born
10. Dashboard hibachis
9. Seat belts made of piano wire
8. Windshield replaced with ant farm for kids
7. Strobe headlights make oncoming traffic look like old time movie
6. 50-foot antennas allow you to broadcast while driving
5. Optional front-seat hammocks
4. Wiper fluid reservoir routinely filled with thousand island dressing
3. New York City taxis would be exactly the same
2. The paper Buick
1. Speedometer replaced with electronic voice chanting "Punch it! Punch it!"
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.